With its strong-willed heroine, superbly accomplished cinematography and fantastic imagination, ‘Divergent Series’ was a box office smash (well, sort of). Hollywood has seen many fantasy movies from ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Percy Jackson’ and ‘Hobbit’ to ‘Lord of the Rings’, but ‘Divergent’ has established its own genre with its creative features and unique world. In the following list of fantasy films, our protagonists are some kind of good Samaritan.
The basic idea behind most of these films is of a person, who has got to figure things out very quickly to earn his or her place and take down the dark forces. So if you are looking for outstanding dystopian movies similar to ‘Divergent’ that are our recommendations. You can watch several of these movies like Divergent on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime.
16. Lord of the Flies (1963)
Director: Peter Brook | Cast: Tom Chaplin. Hugh Edwards. James Aubrey. | Based on William Golding’s masterpiece novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, this 1963 adventure-thriller is a ‘must-watch’ for those who loved ‘Divergent’. ‘In the moment of crisis, survival is living’ – This movie depicts how a situation can drive a mind. A group of British schoolboys, living in the lap of a war, are evacuated. Their airliner is shot down by briefly-glimpsed fighter planes and gets ditched near a remote island. Now how can those ‘Tiny-Thoughts’ save themselves?
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15. The Truman Show (1998)
Director: Peter Weir | Cast: Jim Carrey. Laura Linney. | This film must be called ‘The Jim Carrey Show’. Though it was Ed Harris who was nominated for the ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ at the Academy Awards, Jim Carrey too was eye-catching throughout the movie. This sci-fi of Peter Weir did a massive business by earning nearly 5 times the budget. The plot is about an insurance salesman who discovers his entire life is a television show! Isn’t it weird? Oh! It’s so Weir. (pun intended).
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14. Gladiator (2000)
Director: Ridley Scott. | Cast: Russell Crowe. Joaquin Phoenix. | With 5 Oscars along with another 53 awards and 101 nominations, Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator’ was a massive success as per both the critics as well as the box office earnings. David Franzoni is brilliant in his story-telling. This is a story of revenge. When a Roman General was betrayed and his family is murdered by an emperor’s corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a Gladiator (Russell Crowe). Crowe is brilliant throughout the movie and received the ‘Academy Award for Best Actor’ for this venture.
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13. Battle Royale (2002)
This Japanese movie is based on the novel of Koushun Takami. ‘Battle Royale’ may appear brutal to some extent, but this 2002 adventure-conflict was highly appreciated all over the globe. In the aftermath of a massive economic recession, the authoritarian government has passed the ‘Battle Royale Act’ as a means of population control. The government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other. Parts of the storyline is strikingly similar to that of ‘The Hunger Games’.
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12. Serenity (2005)
This American sci-fi movie is the continuation of Whedon’s short-lived Fox television series ‘Firefly’ (2002). The cast is the same. The incidents take place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2517, ‘Serenity’ is the story of the captain and crew of Serenity, a “Firefly-class” spaceship. Things get more intriguing and thrilling when they try to evade an assassin sent to recapture one of their members, who is telepathic.
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11. V for Vendetta (2005)
This is a dystopian political thriller set in an alternative future where a neo-fascist jurisdiction takes over the United Kingdom. Hugo Weaving who portrays the ‘V’ is a nihilist freedom fighter who tries to ignite a revolution by successive attempts of assassinations and terrorist attack. Natalie Portman is great in as ‘Evey’ and Stephen Rea flawlessly plays the role of a detective.
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10. I Am Number Four (2011)
Starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, and Teresa Palmer, this science-fiction thriller tells the story of John Smith (Alex Pettyfer), an alien from the planet of Lorien. To escape from a species of invaders called Mogadorians who want to kill all Loriens, he and eight other gifted children are hiding on Earth alongwith their guardians. John’s guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant) is bent on protecting him at any cost because he’s special. This sometimes gets in the way of his teenager social life. While in a new town trying to evade the Mogadorians who have already killed three of the gifted children, John befriends a fellow classmate and amateur photographer Sarah Hart (Dianna Agron). Alongwith her and another Lorien child Number Six (Teresa Palmer), John is trying to face off the villains who want to kill them in cold blood. Will he succeed?
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9. Ender’s Game (2013)
Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is a silent but brilliant child who has been recruited by the International Military regime of the New Earth. Fifty years ago, an alien race called the Formics nearly destroyed the Earth in an invasion. Present day, the Military is building an offensive for which Ender Wiggin and many other gifted teenagers have been enlisted. Children are selected to lead an army of robot spaceships, due to their tendency to follow orders without questions and adapt very quickly to challenges. In other words, they are dumb and brilliant at the same time. Ender turns out to be the child protégé as promised. He becomes ruthless and emotionless during the course of the training. However, when he realizes he has to make an entire race of organisms extinct in his mission, his faith dwindles. Will he be able to choose between the lesser evils? A Dystopian fantasy with a mind-boggling climax.
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8. The Giver (2014)
Featuring a fictional utilitarian society, this movie describes a world where there are no emotions, no free will, and no colors. Freaky right? No colors. How do they even live? I mean what do they call an orange? Not-Orange? So in this dystopian world, several years after ‘The Ruin’ –a world ending event- the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) and other Elders have set up an impartial system of governing. Or so it seems. In this new world, a teenager Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is chosen to receive the knowledge of earth before the Ruin, from the Giver (Jeff Bridges). Being the keeper of all knowledge before and after the supposed implementation of a drug system that dulls the human senses, the Giver imparts it to the eager Jonas and opens his eyes to the reality of the way they live. He gives him books to read and music to listen to making him realize what the people are missing in this seemingly peaceful existence. Can the new receiver of history change the course of the coming history and liberate everyone from the evil intentions of the Chief Elder?
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7. The Maze Runner (2014)
While watching this film you can experience the same adrenaline rush as you did while watching ‘Divergent’. This sci-fi based action movie was a major success at the box office. This saga is based on James Dashner’s novel of the same name. The plot revolves around Thomas (Dylan). His memory is erased and thereafter he is made to be part of a group of boys. Soon they realize that their world is nothing but a maze, where they are trapped and they need their fellow ‘runners’ for a shot at escape.
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6. Never Let Me Go (2010)
Okay, now let’s have something sweet. This sci-fi is a bit amorous and romantic. Based on the novel of Kazuo Ishiguro, this movie was applauded by critics though it never took high flight in the box office. The film takes off with on-screen captions explaining that a medical breakthrough in 1952 has permitted the human lifespan to be extended beyond 100 years. It is a story of three friends, from their early school days to their young adulthood. Life changes when the reality hits the trio.
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5. Hanna (2011)
‘Hanna’ is an action-thriller. It is a story of a father and his daughter. The father is an ex-CIA operative from Germany, who trains her daughter to be an undercover assassin in Arctics for a purpose. He is being hunted by his senior officers and he needs his daughter to be ready when the time comes. Do you remember the fighting soul of Beatrice?
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4. Snowpiercer (2013)
Do you want a thrill ride? Go for ‘Snowpiercer’. This is just the one to satisfy your craving for a fantasy based action film. ‘Snowpiercer’ is a South Korean movie based on the novel ‘Le Transperceneige’ by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. The plot is fascinating. It is set in a future where a climate changing experiment failed and kills all the life on the planet, except some, who boarded a train which travels the world, where social classes emerge.
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3. Passengers (2016)
Jennifer Lawrence fans are going to be super-excited because they’ll be able to get a lot of face-time involving the very talented actress. At the same time, this movie will make you question your morality and common-sense. Set in deep space, the starship Avalon is carrying over 5000 passengers -deep in cryosleep- through a 120-year journey to their new planet Homestead II. Midway, the ship malfunctions, awakening only one passenger Jim Preston (Chris Pratt). After being alone for one year, Jim contemplates suicide but instead wakes up another passenger Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). In order to gain her confidence, he tells her that her cryo-pod malfunctioned.
After accepting her fate that she’ll probably never see the new planet, Aurora begins writing her life story and falls in love with Jim eventually. But when she finds out what Jim had done, she resents him for destroying her life. A near brush with death makes the couple recheck their priorities. Instead of sleeping again, Aurora chooses to spend her life aboard the starship with Jim. Tell me, what would you have preferred: a life with people you don’t even know or spending a short time with only one person who you can’t live without?
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2. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
‘Live. Die. Repeat.’ – a continuous process of reincarnation. This sci-fi movie is based on the 2004 novel ‘All You Need is Kill’ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The movie features Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in lead characters, where both of them seem to be born play these roles. This Warner Brothers Pictures presentation earned approx 371 million USD all over the globe. The story is about a soldier who could relive the day again and again – the day restarts every time he dies.
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1. The Hunger Games (2012)
A dystopian science fiction based on the bestselling novel (same name) of Suzanne Collins. It is the first installment of the ‘Hunger Games Saga’. It has two sequels – ‘Catching Fire’ and ‘Mockingjay’. The film, as well as the novel, received critical appreciation from all. The plot is based on the twelve district of an imaginary country named Panem and their barbaric televised competition: Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer) voluntarily takes her sister’s place in the competition and goes through the mortal contention. Things take a thrilling and bloodthirsty turn when it enters in the sequels. This 142 minutes movie earned a massive 695 million USD.
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